family

These are tough times in our country and in our world. The economy is in turmoil and uncertainty abounds. Countless businesses that have been around for decades, and some for more than a century, have gone out of business or are in bankruptcy. People have lost their jobs, their houses, their life savings, and their dignity. It’s clearly the worst time our country has had economically since the Great Depression.

I’ll have to admit that the time leading up to Christmas didn’t feel the same this year. Things are just different this year. Not just in the economy, country, and world, but also in my life and my world. My life has changed very significantly since this time last year. I’ve changed my ways of thinking, my ways of doing things, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I have a new job, a lot of new friends, I’m going to a new church, and I have a new, much more positive, outlook on life.

I guess, reflecting on the matter, the reason why the season didn’t feel the same as years past was not because I’ve become more of an adult, but because I’m a big fan of tradition, for one. We’ve always had our family Christmas traditions, and we haven’t done as many of them as in years past. I’ve also become very busy with work, school, and starting up my own business. It just feels like there’s no time to soak in the spirit of the season and enjoy the holidays this year.

I tried to “un-busy” myself by not putting up as many Christmas lights at the house this year (I usually string them up like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation), and focus on what’s important. I have done that more, but still found myself incredibly busy with other things.

No matter what, though, I always get that same wonderful Christmas feeling in my heart at least a few days before Christmas Day. I’m totally in the spirit now. Everything in life has changed for me, but I find comfort and joy in the fact that Christmas will never lose its meaning, significance, or specialness to me. It may be that I don’t completely feel it for the whole season anymore because of how busy life has gotten, but Christmas itself will always be the same.

The reason for Christmas has become even more meanful to me as I’ve started to study the bible more and grow even more in my Christian journey, and it’s really cool to be able to focus more wholeheartedly on the “reason for the season.” God bless everyone, thanks for reading my blog throughout the year, and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Even though it was more than a month ago, I still wanted to post some photos from the 80s party I threw for my parents. It was their 25th Anniversary, and I wanted to do something special for them. I worked with our family friend Sue, who lives near Charlottesville, in order to get them out of the house. She arranged for a town car to come pick them up and take them around to different wineries all day while I set up for the party.

It was a great turnout considering how many people take vacations mid-summer, and I really think the entire thing went great. There was lots of great food, great friends, great music, and it seems like a great time was had by all. Here are a few pictures from it, and the invitation I had mailed out.